The Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery constructed the Boonville Missouri St. Joseph Hospital in 1911. A house adjacent to the hospital was constructed in 1925 and was used as the home for the Benedictine nurses who worked in the hospital. In 1973 the hospital closed and was replaced by the Cooper County Memorial Hospital. The hospital building has since been demolished.

Harvest House Inc. was formed in December 1988 after a series of discussions between the Cooper County Human Development Corporation, the minister of the Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church, and a spokesman from the University of Missouri Extension Service. Throughout 1989 the board worked to locate a facility, raise funds and establish operation. Through a special arrangement with the Benedictine Sisters, the former nurse home adjacent to the old St. Joseph Hospital was purchased. After much volunteer work, Harvest House Shelter was opened in June 1990. A 6-room addition, named for the founders of the Harvest House, the Reverend Earl and Mary Jackson was completed in August 2005 and is now used as our women/children residence.

Since this time, the Harvest House has filled the needs of homeless and needy families in the Boonslick area. It also serves as a place for Boonville Correctional Center families to stay when visiting incarcerated family members.

What We Do

The Harvest House operates to meet the basic needs of the homeless. We provide free food, shelter, and limited counseling as well as referrals in cases of medical emergencies. Service is provided without regard to age, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. The only prerequisite is need! Our facility serves men, women and children from all over Missouri, transients and referrals from other shelters.

Harvest House provides a home-like setting to serve our guests. Each resident is provided a shared bedroom and access to a communal restroom, kitchen and living room. Free laundry equipment and detergent are also available to residents. We provide free Internet computers plus local and long-distance telephone calls to assist in job searches and making employment and relief applications. Harvest House emphasizes self-help, employment, encouragement, counseling and budgeting to facilitate economic independence. We are not equipped to provide treatment/counseling for guests with drug or alcohol addiction or chronic medical/psychological conditions.

We work hard to provide these services at the most cost efficient manner we possibly can. Whereas most shelters typically operate at a cost of $30 to $40 a bed night, we operate at about $14 per bed night, and that includes free meals!

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."C.S. Lewis.